OSM/VISTA Teams’ founder honored with Service to America Medal

For the first time the Partnership for Public Service has recognized the leader of a National Service project with its highest award.

The Partnership has awarded its 2009 Service to America Medal in the Environment category to Dr. T Allan Comp, coordinator of the Office of Surface Mining's two teams of AmeriCorps Volunteers In Service To America. These OSM/VISTAs support small community groups in addressing environmental and economic issues in some of the poorest parts of America - historic mining communities throughout Appalachia and in the West.

Comp founded and coordinates the Appalachian Coal Country Watershed Team (ACCWT) and the Western Hardrock Watershed Team (WHWT). The ACCWT serves the eight-state coal region of Appalachia, while the WHWT serves mining communities in Colorado and New Mexico. Earlier this year, Comp became the first federal employee to be named a National River Hero by the River Network, and has been a Purpose Prize Fellow. Those awards also honor his work with the watershed teams.

The ACCWT includes 43 OSM/VISTAs. Since its inception in 2002, community volunteers recruited by those OSM/VISTAs have logged 122,281volunteer hours, with more than 17,000 hours in the past year alone. The Western Hardrock Watershed Team, founded in 2007, includes 30 OSM/VISTAs and has logged 4,179 community volunteer hours.